Overview

Motherboards

In this chapter, you will learn to

Explain how motherboards work

Identify the types of motherboards
Explain chipset varieties
Upgrade and install motherboards
Troubleshoot motherboard problems

Motherboard Layouts
The particular way in which the
components are positioned on a
motherboard is called the form factor

How Motherboards Work

AT-Style Form Factor

Designed
around the
Intel 8088
processor.

Configured manually using jumpers,

switches or both.
Motherboard come in a
variety of form factors
and are designed with
different clock speeds and
transfer rate capabilities.

XT Motherboards
extended
technology.

Has an
eight-bit
ISA bus

Full size AT

ATX

LPX

Baby AT

NLX

Limited to 1MB of memory

The AT Form Factor

IBM invented the AT form factor in the
early 80s
Massive in size as they carry a large number of
individual chips
Lacked support for any connections other than the
keyboard
Expansion slots were used to add additional
connectors to the motherboard
As the technology grew demand for smaller PCs led
to creating a smaller motherboard called the Baby
AT

Baby AT on an Older
AT Board

CMOS added so configurations can be set through the keyboard

Designed for
flexibility and
expandability

AT Mother-boards
Advanced
Technology.

Still maintain
backward
compatibility with 8
bit channel

Designed for the

80286 and above
processor

ISA expanded
to 16 bits

Use 16 bit internal

and external bus

The Need for a New

Form Factor
Added components such as a mouse and
modem created a demand for a new form
factor with more dedicated connectors
The new form factors integrated
dedicated connectors for the mouse and
printer, as well as added connectors for
video, sound, and phone

Slimline Form Factors

The first slimline form factor was known as LPX
and was replaced by the NLX form factor
The LPX, and now the NLX, provide a slot for the
insertion of a special riser card
Inflexibility was the main problem with form
factors like the LPX

ATX
The ATX form factor was created in 1995
Uses the soft power feature to turn a PC on and off
through software

Micro ATX and Flex ATX two smaller

versions of ATX
Many techs and web sites use the term mini-ATX to
describe these boards

ATX Motherboard Parts

ATX Motherboard External

Connection Ports

MicroATX

FlexATX

BTX

Layers of the PCB

Motherboards are
officially printed
circuit boards (PCBs)
PCBs come in multiple
layers with highways of
wires (bus systems) in
the layers carrying data
back and forth between
the CPU, Northbridge,
RAM, and peripherals
These highways of wires
are called traces as can
be seen coming from the
CPU on the back of the
motherboard shown

Components of the
Motherboard
Power Connector Super I/O CMOS/RTC/NVRAM

Memory Sockets
North Bridge
Processor
Socket/Slot

Expansion Bus Slots

UART Chips

BIOS

Clock Speeds

Chipset Varieties

South Bridge

System Bus Types

I/O Adapters

Chipsets

Chipset Chips

A chipset defines the processor type,

type and capacity of RAM, and what
internal and external devices the
motherboard will support
Serves as an electronic interface among the CPU,
RAM, and input/output devices

North Bridge

It is essentially the main

component of the
motherboard and is the
only circuit that runs at
full Processor Bus speed
430 FX Chipset

Also called the Memory Controller Hub (MCH) or

system controller

Southbridge
Super I/O Chip

South Bridge
The South Bridge is the lower-speed
component in the chipset

The North Bridge is the connection between

the high-speed Processor bus and the slower
AGP and PCI buses
The North Bridge is
often referred to as
the PAC (PCI/AGP
controller)

Northbridge

440 LX Chipset

South Bridge contains all components

that make up the ISA Bus, including the
Interrupt and DMA controllers
82371 EB South Bridge

440 ZX Chipset

South Bridge connects to the 33MHz PCI bus

and contains the interface to the 8 MHZ ISA bus
82371 FB South Bridge
Normally contains dual IDE hard disk controller
interfaces, one or two USB, the CMOS RAM and
RTC Clock functions

Super I/O Chip

Who Makes PC Chipsets?

Contains at lease a Floppy Controller, two

Serial Ports, and a Parallel Port

In newer Motherboards, the Super I/O

has been placed into the South Bridge

AT Super I/O Controller

Intel
VIA
AMD
SiS
Ali
NVidia

The Super I/O allows you to plug in devices and have them work just
like any other device that is plugged into an Expansion Slot

Schematic for VIA KT400A

Chipset

Intel 975x

Chipset Comparison
Chart

Legacy-free
Motherboards

Chipsets change constantly but heres a

partial look and comparison

Intel along with chipset manufacturers

like VIA, NVIDIA, and others have
dropped support for ISA slots, serial and
parallel ports, infrared, PS/2 ports, and
floppy drives
But many motherboards on the market today that
use these new chipsets include other chips to still
support some of these legacy features
Some of these motherboards also support better
technology than provided by the chipset alone

Choosing the Motherboard

and Case
Modern motherboards can fit into any type of
case manufactured today

Upgrading and Installing

Motherboards

Use AT boxes for AT motherboards

Use ATX boxes for ATX motherboards

Make the seller guarantee the CPU and

motherboard will work together
Cases come in five basic sizes: slimline, desktop,
mini-tower, mid-tower, tower
Most Micro and Flex ATX cases are too small for a
regular ATX motherboard
Best thing to do is to physically check to make sure the
motherboard fits in the case
Cases come with different options

Removable Face or
Bezel

Motherboard Tray

Removing the
Motherboard

Installing the New

Motherboard

1. Remove all the cards

2. Remove obstructing drives
3. Remove the power supply (only if
necessary)
4. Document the position for wires for the
speaker, turbo switch, turbo light
5. Unscrew the old motherboard
The motherboard mounts to the case with small
connectors called standouts

1. Install the CPU and RAM on the new

motherboard before putting it in the
case
2. Mount the new motherboard in the case
3. Reinstall the hard drive(s), power
supply, and so forth that had to be
removed to get the old motherboard out
4. Insert the power connections and other
wires
5. Test!

LED and Switch

Connections

Hardware
Configuration
Three ways to configure the
motherboard:
DIP switches, jumpers, CMOS RAM

Dual inline package (DIP) switch

Has ON (binary 1) and OFF (binary 0) positions
Reset DIP switch when adding or removing device
Use pointed instrument other than graphite pencil

Jumpers
Retain setup or installation information
Are opened and closed using jumper covers
Typical setting: enabling/disabling keyboard
power-up

DIP switches are sometimes used to store setup data

on motherboards

Setup information about the motherboard can be stored by

setting a jumper on (closed) or off (open). A jumper is closed
if the cover is in place, connecting the two pins that make up
the jumper; a jumper is open if the cover is not in place.

Troubleshooting
Symptoms
Catastrophic failure

Troubleshooting Motherboards

System will not boot

Although uncommon most motherboards will fail (if
theyre going to) within the first 30 days due to
manufacturing defects called burn-in failure
Electrostatic discharge is the other most common
cause
To fix, replace the motherboard

More Troubleshooting
Symptoms
Component failure
Intermittent problems
Examples include a hard drive that shows up in
CMOS but not in Windows
Most common causes are electrical surges and ESD
Sometimes a BIOS upgrade may solve this problem
if the issue is lack of BIOS support for a newer
technology
Fixes include replacing the component with an addon card or flashing the BIOS

Troubleshooting
Techniques
Isolate the problem by eliminating
potential factors
If the hard drive doesnt work, try a different hard
drive or try the same hard drive with a different
motherboard
If the new hard drive works, then it wasnt the
motherboard
If the same hard drive with a different motherboard works,
then suspect the motherboard

More Troubleshooting
Symptoms
Ethereal symptoms

Things just dont work all the time

PC reboots itself for no apparent reason
Blue screens of death
Causes include faulty components, buggy device
drivers or application software, slight corruption of
the operating system, and power supply problems
Fixes include flashing the BIOS or replacing the
motherboard

New Stuff
Relatively new in PC technology
Intels WTX standard for multi-processor servers
VIAs two tiny form factors called ITX and Mini-ITX
Shuttles new form factor resulting in PCs the size
of a toaster but still just as powerful